A BAD RAP
Rapper and Big Brother star finally changing his shocking stage name after it got him BANNED from US
He revealed how American feds previously questioned one of his controversial song titles, named 'Bin Laden Is Not Dead'
A BRAZILIAN rapper has finally changed his name after it caused years of controversy and even got him banned from the US.
Big Brother star MC Bin Laden said his choice was "never to pay tribute to a terrorist" but to get people's attention.
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He had planned gigs in New York City but needless to say that US feds denied his visa multiple times.
In June 2016, the rapper was all set to go to the States after his visa papers were submitted to an agent in America.
But the American Consulate in São Paulo requested a last-minute drug test for Brazilians flying to the US.
MC Bin Laden, an evangelical Christian—the conservative-leaning, fastest growing faith in Brazil—claims to be clean, but there was not time to complete the test before his scheduled departure, forcing him to cancel the New York gigs.
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He had planned a mini tour in the US the year before, which also went down the drain after he claimed the consulate rejected his application "without a reason."
The 30-year-old told : "In a previous interview with the consulate, they kept asking me about my video 'Bin Laden Não Morreu' (Bin Laden is Not Dead), what did I mean with it.
"I told them it was only a joke, a move I made in the beginning of my career. I'm at a different stage. But I don't think they got it."
But now, MC Bin Laden - real name Jefferson Cristian dos Santos - will release his next EP under the new stage name MC BIN, reports.
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Right before getting booted from Brazil's edition of Big Brother on Thursday, the star's team announced the long-awaited name change.
The rapper, who boasts 5.2 million Instagram followers, called himself MC JK at the beginning of his career.
Last year, he told a podcast how he’d included the Al-Qaeda co-founder’s name in the lyrics to one of his songs, after watching a documentary.
He said at the time: “I had no clue at all. I smoked a lot and, at the time, I watched a documentary, and I made the song.
“We hunted for some names, like ‘Kabum’, ‘Bola 7’, ‘Bola 8’, grenade, a bunch of stuff.
“But the guys said to go with Bin Laden, saying ‘It’s too crazy, it suits him.’
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“I wanted MC, and it became: MC Bin Laden.”
In 2018, the rapper denied that he chose the stage name to honour the 9/11 devil mastermind.
He wrote at the time: “Many imagine that the name ‘MC Bin Laden’ was to pay tribute to a terrorist.
“It was a name to make an impact and attract attention.
“Never to pay homage or draw comparisons to anything like that.”
Despite the seemingly dangerous stage name, Jefferson is said to be an "endearing, full-time joker" chap.
And part of that personality appeared to have been shown during his time in Big Brother Brazil.
Upon his elimination, a montage shared on his Instagram page showed MC Bin Laden's best moments on the reality show.
Fans and followers flocked to the comment section to congratulate 'Bin', as he is nicknamed by many.
One user wrote: "We are very proud of your trajectory."
Another added: "It was so good to get to know you better Bin. You have a beautiful heart, I loved following you."
A third replied: "Your family must be very proud of you."
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And a fourth commented: "I really like Bin, I think he's an incredible guy.
"Good luck kid, you deserve every wonderful thing in life."
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